Pep Guardiola has confirmed that John Stones and Kyle Walker will miss Manchester City’s Premier League match against Arsenal this weekend through injury.
Stones, 29, had to be withdrawn 10 minutes into England’s international friendly against Belgium on Tuesday, with England manager Gareth Southgate later indicating the City defender had suffered a hip problem.
City captain Kyle Walker, meanwhile, was forced off through injury in England’s 1-0 defeat by Brazil.
“No (I don’t know how long). Kyle more tougher than John but will be out I don’t know how many games,” said Guardiola.
The injuries to Stones and Walker will come as a blow ahead of Sunday’s clash at the Etihad.
Stones missed the first seven games of the campaign with a hip injury, making his first appearance of the season as a second-half substitute in City’s 1-0 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates in October.
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He has started all of City’s past four Premier League games and was an unused substitute in their FA Cup quarter-final win over Newcastle United in their final match before joining England on international duty.
Walker, meanwhile, has featured 38 times for City across all competitions.
Kevin De Bruyne also missed City’s 2-0 win against Newcastle but will need further assessment to determine his availability.
“Kevin is such an important player,” Guardiola added. “It has been a tough season for him with injuries, being out for a long time. He trained really well yesterday so we will see what we’re going to do in the next days.”
Guardiola also confirmed that goalkeeper Ederson is “much, much better” having recovered from an issue picked up in the 1-1 draw at Liverpool earlier this month.
Defender Manuel Akanji is also available, having picked up a knock on international duty with Switzerland.
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(Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
